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Does education reduce teen fertility? Evidence from compulsory schooling laws

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  • DeCicca, Philip
  • Krashinsky, Harry

Abstract

While less-educated women are more likely to give birth as teenagers, there is scant evidence the relationship is causal. We investigate this possibility using variation in compulsory schooling laws (CSLs) to identify the impact of formal education on teen fertility at specific ages for a large sample of women drawn from multiple waves of the Canadian Census. We find large negative impacts of education on births for young women aged seventeen and eighteen, but less systematic evidence of an effect after these ages. While our findings are consistent with an “incarceration effect”, where school enrollment deters fertility in a contemporaneous manner, we cannot rule out longer-run effects of education on fertility.

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  • DeCicca, Philip & Krashinsky, Harry, 2020. "Does education reduce teen fertility? Evidence from compulsory schooling laws," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 69(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jhecon:v:69:y:2020:i:c:s0167629617309438
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jhealeco.2019.102268
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    Cited by:

    1. Murat G. Kırdar & Meltem Dayıoğlu & İsmet Koç, 2018. "The Effects of Compulsory-Schooling Laws on Teenage Marriage and Births in Turkey," Journal of Human Capital, University of Chicago Press, vol. 12(4), pages 640-668.
    2. Ando, Michihito & Mori, Hiroaki & Yamaguchi, Shintaro, 2025. "Universal early childhood education and adolescent risky behavior," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 245(C).
    3. Bilge Erten & Luis Pinar Keskin, 2017. "Breaking the Cycle? Education and the Intergenerational Transmission of Violence," Boston University - Department of Economics - Working Papers Series dp-296, Boston University - Department of Economics.
    4. Eunjung Park & Sangyoon Yi, 2025. "Compulsory education enhances financial inclusion across socioeconomic groups: a global analysis," Humanities and Social Sciences Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 12(1), pages 1-14, December.
    5. Marine de Talancé, 2019. "Education, fertility and childlessness in Indonesia," Erudite Working Paper 2019-15, Erudite.
    6. Chen, Jiwei & Guo, Jiangying, 2022. "The effect of female education on fertility: Evidence from China’s compulsory schooling reform," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 88(C).
    7. DeCicca, Philip & Krashinsky, Harry, 2020. "Does education reduce teen fertility? Evidence from compulsory schooling laws," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 69(C).
    8. Garcez, Lucas N. & Padilla-Romo, María & Peluffo, Cecilia & Pineda-Torres, Mayra, 2024. "Improvements in Schooling Opportunities and Teen Births," IZA Discussion Papers 16791, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    9. Garcez, Lucas N. & Padilla-Romo, María & Peluffo, Cecilia & Pineda-Torres, Mayra, 2025. "Improvements in schooling opportunities and teen births," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 236(C).
    10. Hamad, Rita & Elser, Holly & Tran, Duy C. & Rehkopf, David H. & Goodman, Steven N., 2018. "How and why studies disagree about the effects of education on health: A systematic review and meta-analysis of studies of compulsory schooling laws," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 212(C), pages 168-178.
    11. Bhattacharjee, Sandipa, 2025. "Do Compulsory Schooling Laws Affect Fertility Behaviors and Marriages? Evidence from India," GLO Discussion Paper Series 1588, Global Labor Organization (GLO).
    12. Han, Jiajun & Zhang, Yuan, 2025. "Education and tolerance towards Homosexuality—Evidence from China," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 87(C).
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    14. Baltagi, Badi H. & Karatas, Haci M., 2025. "Education and fertility: Evidence from an instrumental variable approach using higher education expansions in Turkey," Health Policy, Elsevier, vol. 159(C).
    15. Poh Lin Tan, 2017. "The impact of school entry laws on female education and teenage fertility," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 30(2), pages 503-536, April.
    16. Liu, Shenglong & Zhang, Xiaoming & Zhou, Shaojie, 2024. "The compulsory education law, female education and fertility: An empirical study in China," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 52(3), pages 679-696.
    17. Hoang, Trung X. & Nguyen, Ha, 2023. "Multi-generational effects of school access in a developing country: Evidence from a mass education program in Vietnam," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 97(C).
    18. Songtao Yang, 2022. "The effects of compulsory schooling reforms on women’s marriage outcomes—evidence from Britain," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 63(3), pages 1637-1662, September.

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    Keywords

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    JEL classification:

    • I1 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health
    • I18 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Government Policy; Regulation; Public Health
    • I24 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Education and Inequality
    • J13 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Fertility; Family Planning; Child Care; Children; Youth

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